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Understanding advanced theory of mind and empathy in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Understanding advanced theory of mind and empathy in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder

D. Mathersul, S. McDonald and J.A. Rushby
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Vol.35(6), pp.655-668
2013
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Abstract

It has been argued that higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have specific deficits in advanced but not simple theory of mind (ToM), yet the questionable ecological validity of some tasks reduces the strength of this assumption. The present study employed The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), which uses video vignettes to assess comprehension of subtle conversational inferences (sarcasm, lies/deception). Given the proposed relationships between advanced ToM and cognitive and affective empathy, these associations were also investigated. As expected, the high-functioning adults with ASDs demonstrated specific deficits in comprehending the beliefs, intentions, and meaning of nonliteral expressions. They also had significantly lower cognitive and affective empathy. Cognitive empathy was related to ToM and group membership whereas affective empathy was only related to group membership.

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Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.136 Autism & Development Disorders
1.136.283 Autism Spectrum Disorders
Web Of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
Psychology
Psychology, Clinical
ESI research areas
Neuroscience & Behavior
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